Child porn case against ex-substitute teacher adjourned

A court hearing to determine whether a former substitute teacher in Warren should stand trial for possession of child pornography was postponed Thursday to Nov. 15.

Mark George Brittan’s preliminary exam in 37th District Court was adjourned because police computer experts have not finished delving into a computer seized from his home in Hazel Park.

Brittan, 37, faces one count of possession of child sexually abusive material, a four-year felony; and using a computer to commit a crime, punishable by four to 10 years in prison.

He worked as a substitute teacher for approximately four years in the Van Dyke Public Schools, where employees were stunned by the allegations, according to the district’s top-ranking administrator.

After word spread in late August that Brittan had been charged, Superintendent Joseph Pius said surprised staffers included teachers who often requested that Brittan fill in for them in the classroom when they expected to a miss a day.

“It’s one of those, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ ” situations, Pius said at the time. “He was well-liked and a satisfactory employee.”

The superintendent has credited a female student for reporting a classroom incident that she considered unusual.

The girl told a parent last April that Brittan alternately took pictures of a group of students and her individually, Pius said. The parent contacted a school official and asked if such photography is normal and necessary.

Pius said the district prohibits such activity without first obtaining parental consent. Brittan told a district human resources official that he took pictures of kids to post them in classrooms and to help him remember names, the superintendent said.

Pius ordered that Brittan be prohibited from substituting. School officials later learned that Warren police began to investigate Brittan.

Warren police said a relative of the girl contacted the school resource officer assigned by the police department to Van Dyke schools. The Macomb Area Computer Enforcement team seized a computer from Brittan’s home on June 13.